Sunday, February 11, 2007

"Among the features of the new 6,000-square-foot, $3 million entertainment wing in Kevin Scherer's home in Plano, Texas, are two bars, a theater, a video game room, a shuffleboard table and a golf simulator that projects images of top courses onto a big screen.

Oh, and a urinal.

"It fit the theme of the golf simulator room, which is a men's activity," said Scherer, a 44-year-old retired Internet executive, speaking of the $1,269 Kohler Bardon urinal he installed in an adjoining bathroom and unveiled at a Christmas party, as though showing off a ceramic trophy. No guy would ever use the toilet, he added, "if he knew the urinal was there."

... Indeed, there is still a certain amount of squeamishness about home urinals, particularly among women, so marketers are focusing on designer style and claims about cleanliness in an effort to overcome negative associations. Kohler USA, for instance, says that its "human factors group" – a team that studies, among other things, how people urinate – has found the best urinal shape for keeping the bathroom clean. A result is Kohler's funnel-shaped Steward series, introduced last April.

"When you go at a flat wall there's lots of splash," said Shane Judd, product manager of Kohler's fixtures group, whose job it is to know these kinds of things. "The conical shape eliminates splash."

The environmental benefits are also an attraction for some, since several of the new models use less than a gallon of water per flush, while an older toilet can use as much as 5 gallons. Eric Cadora, a 42-year-old actor and consultant, installed a Duravit McDry model, which uses no water to flush regularly, in the 2,800-square-foot home he shares with his wife in Malibu. He estimates the urinal will save thousands of gallons of water a year. Maintenance, he added, has been minimal; every two months, he flushes the fixture with a gallon of water and then refreshes the sealant. "It never smells," Cadora said." (Continued via oc register) [Ergonomics Resources]